Kindred Spirits: Harvard Business School's extraordinary class of 1949 and how they transformed American business

The Story

'They stormed the beaches of Normandy and the islands of the South Pacific, but the exceptional generation of Americans that won World War II also produced the greatest group of business leaders of the post-war era. Harvard Business School's class of 1949 consisted mostly of military veterans who came to Cambridge thanks to the GI Bill. Molded by the hardships of depression and war, few 49ers sought fabulous wealth as an end in itself.